Coffin-loads of fun!

But what if that girl is the notorious TV horror child Wednesday Addams and what if those prospective in-laws are the ghoulish Gomez and Morticia?

The Addams Family Musical seeks to answer these questions over a two-hour production packed with dark humour, dance sequences (complete with a varied troupe of Addams ancestors) and punchy songs.

As it’s billed as a family-friendly show, I took the family (including two primary-aged boys) along to the always-welcoming Lyric Theatre for opening night with the promise of songs, spooks and the odd sinister gag.

All three marks were hit, although some of the cheesier or more obscure jokes fell rather flat or brought smiles rather than laughs from adult audience members, and the consensus was the horror level was set a little low even for the younger ones. Not quite creepy and spooky enough for some.

Where DOS can’t be faulted is on their standard of performance and production values.

The set of the Addams’ house of horror looks great, and there is innovative and impressive use of props throughout (notably during a Central Park Woods scene and one where a gym ball stands in for the moon a suitably wacky Uncle Fester reckons he’s in love with!).

The dance routines are on-point and everything — cast and props included — moves slickly (except for at one accidentally comic moment where a chaise longue misbehaved).

As for the songs, they are varied and clever in both tempo and content and strongly performed with the backing of a small orchestra (hats off to musical director Jonathan Wilby).

Ashley Booker as Gomez and Louise Selden as Morticia make for a convincing, if unconventional, married couple and parents and each enjoys their own moments in the spotlight.

I especially enjoyed Gomez’s bittersweet lament, Happy Sad, at Wednesday’s growth into womanhood, and Morticia’s wittily chilling Just Around the Corner, as well as the couple coming together for a passionate Tango De Amor.

Credit too, for, the scene-stealing efforts of Russell Thornton as zombie butler Lurch, while Abbie Lloyd gives some of the biggest laughs as Wednesday’s potential mother-in-law and Daisy Mikulik’s Wednesday spars sparkily with her relatives.

Perhaps the pick of the bunch is Faith Birnie as Pugsley, who gives a top-drawer vocal performance and effectively channels the devilment inherent in the Pugsley of the classic TV show, while Andrew Darksus brings a healthy dollop of swivel-eyed lunacy and a spot-on “New Yoik” accent to Fester.

If I have a quibble, it’s with the plot — The Addams Family was always more kooky and spooky than full-on horrific but I can’t shake the feeling this script is still playing it rather safe.

No-one wants to give kids nightmares, but the story, revolving as it does around the softening of Wednesday’s sadistic soul, left some of us wanting a little more.

Having said that, if you want to see an amateur cast giving their all and providing coffin-loads (too much?) of entertainment, head on down to the Civic.

The last word goes to my seven-year-old for this exchange on the journey home:

“Do they get paid?”

“No, they’re all doing it because they love performing or putting on plays.”

“So they’re all volunteers?”

“Yes!”

“Well, good for them, then.”

And so say all of us!

The Addams Family Musical by Dinnington Operatic Society is at The Lyric until Saturday